


Alternative Ending to Scorpion Season One

by NKol00



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-01 09:11:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4014052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NKol00/pseuds/NKol00
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens after Walter is rushed to the hospital after his near death experience? Will there be forgiveness among old friends? Will there be a spark among Walter and Paige? Contains some spoilers. More chapters on the way. Please review! (I don't own the characters.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Hospital

Alternative Ending to Scorpion Season 1 – "Postcards from the Edge" – Walter's point of view

I awoke in a daze, without a clue as to where I was until I calmed my nerves. Once focused I noticed the florescent lights buzzing overhead, hushed voices could be heard in the distance, and the smell of cleaners intoxicated my nostrils. Memories of the day's events suddenly bombarded me like water rushing down a mountain pounding into the surface below. Cabe, the man I had seen as a father too me, betrayed me once again. He had known! Yet did not try to stop what happened in Baghdad. The program I had designed was used to kill people in Baghdad, and here it was back home being used once again to take the lives of innocents. How many people would lose their lives to my creation… My head spun as I tried to bury all of these preventable tragedies, in the end I can't repress them, and all of these deaths will always be my fault. I clench my fists in anger, thinking of Cabe and the way he just talks his way into letting me trust him. But after everything that happened today, him risking his own life to save me, I relax. What happened in Baghdad was sixteen years ago and even though I will never forgive myself its time that I forgive him, because deep down I know that he never meant to hurt me. Lost in my own thoughts I don't realize as a doctor walks in, startling me with her voice.

"Mr. O'Brien how are you feeling?" she asks.

"I've seen better days," I choke out, my throat feels raw and dry.

She chuckles at my response, and offers a cup of water. I thank her and she responds by stating that I have some visitors that are starting to cause a ruckus out in the waiting room. Leave it to the team of brilliantly talented minds to not be able to keep it together in a waiting room. Though if it were me in their shoes my mind would be everywhere, probably causing me to become impatient and act out as well.

"When can I see them?" I ask.

"Well visiting hours are already over but I could probably sneak them in for a minute or so," she states with a smile.

With that she quickly exits soon to return with the people I care about most. I think back to the moment when the crow landed on the hood of the car, resulting in the weight of the car shifting which meant if it flew away the entire car would fall with the probability of my demise being quite high. Yet in that moment I wasn't thinking about my death I was thinking about Paige, the glue to the Scorpion team. Paige was something else, and I care about her but I just can't get myself to express my emotions unless it's a life or death situation. Like when we were in the forest surrounded by hot flames threatening our lives with an extremely low percentage of rescue. I reached out and held her hand, the spark that touch ignited was irresistible and I didn't want to let go…

"Walter!" Ralph's voice echoed in the room as he ran toward me, embracing me in a bear hug. I groan with pain and he pulls away, tears rim his eyes.

"Hey buddy, it's okay now," I say as I grab his little hand and pull him into another hug. "See I'm fine Ralph thank you for coming to see me."

He smiles, much better than the tears, "I'm part of Scorpion so I had to see you, since you're part of the family too." Ralph says, making me laugh at his innocence. Right then my mind flashes back to yesterday's events when Ralph nearly got himself killed while trying to be a part of the team, even though his actions saved the city it was still reckless. I hadn't even realized what he had done until Paige confronted me later in the day, I can still hear the pain in her voice as she said Ralph would be better without me.

My eyes scan the room, taking in the rest of my visitors. Shiny objects near the ceiling catch my eye, "Sly you brought me balloons!" I yell out in excitement, knowing he would be happy that I liked them.

"See!" he brags to the rest of the team, who were probably mocking him out in the waiting area.

"Walter how are you feeling?" I'm surprised by the voice not expecting my sister to be here. When I look over her hand is linked in Sly's and she has a tear drifting slowly down her face.

"Megan, I'm feeling a lot better knowing that you're all here, and that you and Sylvester are happy," my emotional response catches them all off guard and they all smile and laugh as she leans over to hug me. Even though I don't say it often I really do love all of these guys, and deep down they all know it.

"So Walter when will you get back to the garage to work on the rocket, cause me and Ralph here have a couple new ideas we'd like to try out," Happy asks, as she wiggles out of Toby's grasp leaving him slightly disappointed. Before I had a rule about romances with people that work together, it never ends well resulting in plenty of distractions and hurt feelings. After admitting to myself that I had fallen for Paige, with the help of Toby's analysis, and seeing how Toby's day got better whenever Happy walked into the room, I put more thought into the rule. In all honesty it served a purpose once but now it was holding everyone back and I think it's time for that rule's retirement. I smiled as Toby, ever so vigilant, caught on to my change of views and slid his arm around Happy again, who didn't resist.

"I'm still not sure when I'll be getting back, hopefully by the end of the week. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to last here," I joke. As I look around I notice Cabe sulking in the back of the room, his head leaned against the wall. If the pain wasn't so awful I'd walk over to him. There's so much I want to say to him, I just don't know how to…

At that moment I notice Paige slip into the room, she ducks her head trying to enter unnoticed but it failed. I noticed her, the way her eyes were red from tears and the way she couldn't look directly at me. Her presence gives me the strength to say what's been on my mind.

"Cabe. Look I'm sorry, I'm sorry about everything that's happened. I know none of this was your fault. And I know… I know you never meant to hurt me. You've been… a father to me all these years and even when nobody else understood me you did…" I pause trying to regain my composure as I feel my eyes beginning to water.

"Son, I understand…" he starts, stopping as he embraces me in a hug, symbolizing an end to our feud.

The woman doctor returns, "Alright guys visiting time is officially over." After quick goodbyes she ushers everybody out of the room. Paige pulls the doctor aside and whispers something, after a brief moment the doctor nods her head in agreement, closing the door behind her; finally leaving Paige and me alone. I once again notice the pain in her eyes, wishing to take it away and see her beautiful eyes glimmer with happiness like they did at our Christmas get together when I wore that silly light up sweater.

"Paige come here, tell me what's going on," I insist. She approaches me, a look of concern blankets her face.

"Walter you scared me today. I thought for a moment today that I'd seen you for the last time, and it really bothered me that if that had happened our finally memory together would have been a fight… A fight that after everything that happened today I realized shouldn't have happened. Yes, I was terrified and I acted out, it's just that Ralph is my everything… and the thought of losing him… the thought of losing you…" she pauses as tears run down her face. I reach out and grab her hand holding it close to my heart, she gasps as my other hand grazes across her face wiping away the tears.

"Hey, hey don't cry… everything's okay now," I whisper as she comes closer to me. She places her delicate fingers right above the bruise on my face, gently massaging.

"Walter I'm not going anywhere, we're still a team…" her breath hot against my lips. My nerves relax as I feel her lips against mine, we kiss slowly at first, not knowing what to expect. We deepen the kiss filling it with passion, electricity flows through our bodies. Paige pulls away both of us struggling to regain our breaths. As I pull her close again she stops me.

"Wait, Walter the doctor only gave me a couple more minutes with you."

"That's okay, that gives us a couple more minutes together," I smile and kiss her again. We continue to kiss only to be interrupted by the doctor clearing her voice.

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but it's time for Mr. O'Brien's morphine. Once the morphine kicks Mr. O'Brien you'll be out until the morning. And depending on your recovery you should be able to go home by the end of the week. Ms. Dineen you're welcome to stay the night."

The doctor leaves after tinkering with the dials on machine beside my bed. Suddenly I feel a strong dose coursing through my veins, numbing my body. I reach out to Paige and doze off feeling her fingers laced in mine.


	2. Back Home

After spending six whole days at the hospital I was practically begging for my doctor to release me, but the rest of the team didn't seem to share my views. All I want is to be at home resting in my own bed, with things back to normal, well as normal as they can be. Its on the seventh day of _Torture Walter Week_ , that the doctor comes in with the release paperwork. Paige helps me to finalize the paperwork and wheels me out of the hospital and into Cabe's new government vehicle, a deal he made with Homeland when they reinstated him and appointed him as the lead of Scorpion once again. Cabe comes out of the driver's side and assists me into the passenger's seat as Paige climbs into the back seat. The sun simmers right off of her perfectly olive skin, her beauty once again making my heart race. I wince as I pull the seat belt across my body, the strap places pressure on my still sore side. Thankfully Cabe and Paige don't catch on to my discomfort, I'd had enough of their overprotective nature.

When we arrive at the garage everybody is downstairs, balloons decorate the ceiling and walls, streamers are scattered throughout the garage, and a large banner written in Ralph's handwriting welcomes me home. I smile as I look around at all my friends and family, and as much as I want to be downstairs and celebrate with them, I can feel my pain medications wearing off and the pain in my side returning at full strength. As I wait for a perfect chance to slip upstairs to rest, I pull up a seat beside the rocket and help Ralph add in a part he and Happy had built. This rocket was taking much longer than I originally anticipated, but that was fine as long as Ralph was happy building it.

To my disappointment my sister isn't here today, when I mentioned it to Sylvester he had said she wasn't feeling well enough to leave. That really bothered me, I had been trying my hardest to create a cure or a treatment for her disease and it just wasn't coming to me. No matter how hard I tried or how long I stayed in the lab nothing worked!

I bring my thoughts back to the rocket and after a whole lot of tinkering Ralph and I are able to install the new part. Upon its installation the stripes on the side of the rocket begin to glow a bright red, exciting Ralph. He is so excited he runs around the entire garage gathering people to come and see it.

This is the first time all week that someone other than me has the full attention of the team, using this distraction I duck away. I make my way upstairs to my bedroom, walking in I feel relief rush over me. I make my way to the dresser to find some clean clothes and a towel before jumping into the shower. When I come out I am startled at the sight of Paige laying on my bed, her arms are wrapped around my pillow hugging it as she snores lightly. Her complexion is adorable, she's smiling in her sleep, radiating of happiness and peacefulness. I approach slowly not wanting to wake her, I lift the blankets past her shoulders and tuck her in. My lips brush lightly on her forehead before I head downstairs. Guess I'll rest later, she deserves some quiet time much more than I do, and I know laying that close to her will tempt us to do more than just sleep.

"Hey son, glad to be back home?" Cabe asks, his signature coffee mug is placed in his right hand.

"Yeah, I prefer the garage over any place in the world. Here I know I'm surrounded by the people I care about." As I say this, I question where all of this emotion is coming from, before the accident I was barely able to communicate my feels now it comes much easier. Maybe it was another positive effect that Paige had on me, heart to heart conversations have been much easier for me. Not only have I been able to say what I'm feeling but I'm also able to pick up on the emotions that others are feelings, but that's still a work in progress. Anyway it's still a plus because now I'm not insulting others all the time because I can understand where they are coming from on an emotional level. I think that the team is going to question me about my new found emotions, instead they embrace them, knowing that Paige is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

"Where's Paige?" Toby asks.

"Upstairs, she's exhausted, this has been one long week for her, well for all of us." I respond.

"Well whose fault is that?" Happy jokes with a wink. The sound of laughter fills the garage, only to be interjected by piercing sound of a glass scattering scream. Before I'm able to pinpoint where the sound came from I hear Ralph murmur, "Mommy's dreams are back  _again_."

I sprint up the stairs taking them two at a time, at the landing I swing the bedroom door open. I hear the others following closely behind me. On the bed I see Paige, her back is up against the headboard, her knees are tucked in close, and her head is dipped resting on her knees, her quiet cries echoing in the empty room. Cautiously I approach, sliding myself onto the bed beside her, I glide my arm behind her and gently rub her back trying to comfort her. Cabe enters behind me with his gun raised, sliding it back into its holster when he's sure nobody else is in the room. The rest of the gang follows.

"Paige, sweetie, tell me what happened," I whisper, her head is still lowered.

"Alright guys lets go back downstairs." Toby commands, sensing Paige's unease to open up in front of everybody.

"Paige…" worry overwhelms my voice.

She looks up at me after the team leaves, and says, "Nothing happened Walter, it was just a bad dream. I didn't realize how loud I screamed until you all came running in like bats out of hell." Tears are no longer in her eyes and she smiles, leading me to believe that she was okay, but her eyes dart away from mine when she says that it was "just a bad dream." Ralph had said this had happened before, but why am I just hearing of it now, she always told me when something was bothering her. I sense that she's not telling me the whole truth, the sound of Ralph saying "again" ricochets in my head, repeating over and over again, as Paige falls back asleep in my arms.


	3. New Case

It has been a week since I my release from the hospital, and since Paige's incident. Things are slowly returning back to normal with the exception of Paige. She's been skittish around the team, especially me, and since then she hasn't spent the night. Whatever is going on in that head of hers is a mystery to me, a mystery I am determined to solve. My mind goes back to everything that has happened since the case involving the lab and Baghdad program. What could have frightened her so much to make her become so distant? There is Ralph's hero incident but we'd talked about that, she'd come to terms with Ralph's behavior, and we both sat him down and explained why he could never do something like that ever again. His little eyes showed his confusion at first but then he came around to our request to never leave school again without one of us there. Likewise there was the whole crashing my car over the rail after dangerously risking my own life episode, but we'd talked about that as well. In all honesty nothing made sense. Interjecting my thoughts is the sound of an engine reverberating outside of the garage, Cabe blasts in with a file in his right hand.

"Everybody gather around, we've got a new case!" he yells on his way to the coffee maker. Before long everybody has made their way downstairs and he commences.

"Around five a.m. this morning there was a cyber-attack on a highly secure military base outside of the city. From what they can tell no files were seized or corrupted but they need to figure out how the hacker cracked their firewalls. That's where we come in." Cabe informs us.

"Now why would someone take the time to hack into a secure base, knowing the risk of getting caught, yet not take anything?" Sylvester asks. "Also if they were able to hack their way past the firewall, then what did he or she hit in order for base officials to figure out that their cyber system had been infiltrated?"

"Well that's what we need to figure out, now isn't it." Cabe retorts.

Everyone proceeds toward their computers to acquire more information, I remain standing noticing that Paige still has yet to arrive. I look up at the clock, by now it's past the time Ralph's school starts and normally she brings him here for a little while before transporting him to school. At that moment a car pulls into the driveway, not expecting any visitors I advance toward the door. That's when a second car comes screeching to halt, doors slam shut and a shouting match initiates. As quickly as it erupts the match ends, and the second car thunders down the street as I rush outside. Paige is propped up against her car, her hands up to her face in defeat.

"Paige?" I say, moving toward her. Her hands fall to her sides, she directs her gaze to me, as the rest of the team piles out of the garage, concern is laced in their expressions.

"What am I just a freak show to you guys?" She lashes out. "Stop looking at me like I'm just another one of your experiments!" Her words sting as she moves toward the driver's side of her car.

"Whoa! Paige wait up!" I yell out following her, as soon as I'm by her side my hand attempts to make its way to her shoulder.

"Walter. Don't!" She warns shrugging away my hand. "Just leave me alone," she continues as she climbs into her car, reversing into the street and driving away. The ice in her words makes its way into my heart, whatever is going on with her has escalated to an entirely different level. Once back inside I push my way past Cabe, reaching for his keys on the counter.

"And where do you think you're going?" he questions, blocking my path.

"I need to talk to her." I really don't have time for this right now, my effort to move past him is unsuccessful.

"What you need to do is give her some space," he says taking the keys back.

"He's right Walter, you just attempted to talk to her and let's just say the fire in her eyes was enough to make me feel the 'love,'" Toby adds in sarcastically. "Just give her some time to think."

As much as I hate it he's right and since he's the expert I trust his judgement.

"Fine then, let's get back to work." I express, not thrilled with the circumstances.

We manage to track the hacker in less than an hour, whoever hacked the base was good but not nearly as good as us. He'd used a similar encryption in a different hack that he was thrown in prison for, so once we figured out the similarities in the hacks we traced it. After the arrest we all sat around, "well that was a pretty basic hack, I don't get why Homeland couldn't figure it out," I think to myself. Then I realize the reason why they didn't figure it out was because they never got it, Cabe got the case and sent it directly to us for a reason.

"Hey Cabe how come the boys at Homeland couldn't find this hacker? He wasn't exactly a needle in a haystack." I say out loud, there had to be a reason why we got this case, and Cabe was known for his alliterative motives.

"Seriously he didn't even attempt to hide his trail," Sylvester chimes in.

"If he'd just altered his encryption more he would have been more likely to get away with it." Happy clarifies.

"I don't know guys, you just did." He lies, I can tell by the way he shifts his weight from his right side to his left.

"Alright how about we all tell the truth from now on," Toby suggests, picking up on Cabe's tell. Cabe looks away reluctant to give us a straight answer.

"Look I don't want to offend anybody's intelligence, but Homeland thinks we need to take it slow coming back from our implosion at the lab. Word got around to the director about our near self-destruction, evidently due to Walter throwing me off the team and me turning in my badge. So now we're stuck in the minor league, but trust me we'll make it back up to the big league again." Cabe states. My hand twitches at that word "trust," even though we'd moved on, it was still going to take more than a couple of weeks before I truly trusted him, if I could ever trust him again.

"So now what we just get cases that take up an hour of our day and then sit around doing nothing, when we could be solving cases that they know few others can solve? Cases that essentially matter." I inquire, infuriated with the entire situation. Especially at the fact that Cabe used a baseball analogy out of all the things in the world, whenever somebody mentioned baseball my mind flashed to Ralph's no good father. Only scum like him can have everything, a loving partner and beautiful child, and still manage to ruin it all. Something I was not going to do.

"For now yes," he replies. Irritated I walk away from my desk and make a move for Cabe's keys, this time nobody stops me. 


	4. Confrontation

Walking up the pathway to her front door triggered a memory, the last time I'd come here it was late and all I desired to do was express my feelings toward her. As I approached the house I was deterred, watching as she set the table with Drew and Ralph, all of them were full of smiles and laughs. I had backed away, thinking I'd lost her forever, since she had decided to let that awful man back into her life, and into Ralph's life.

Today the scene was quite the opposite, the midday sun was shining bright overhead and the house appeared bleak inside, her sweet laugh not audible today. I'd give anything to hear that laugh again and see her smile a full smile again, one that put a sparkle in her eyes, one that made her face glow like a goddess.

Breaking the silence the house is draped in I knock, faintly at first then more urgently as I await an answer. Inside I hear shuffling and a muffled voice slowly making its way to the door. The door flies open, she leans against the frame, shock flashes across her face swiftly replaced by a darker emotion. Her eyes were bloodshot, tear stains line her face, and the gaze she delivers reads as if nothing I could possibly say mattered. What she doesn't know is this time I refuse to back down, this time I will get to the bottom of this.

"Walter what are you doing here? I told you to leave me alone." She begins, annoyance laced in her voice. I couldn't do this anymore, one day she loved me and would do anything for some alone time, the next day it was as if she was plotting my death.

"Paige what the hell is going on?" I yell much louder than anticipated, she cringes. I regret raising my voice instantly.

Composing myself I begin again, "Please… I just want to understand what's going on. Let me in so we can talk."

"Walter…" emotion pours out, only to be captured by something else. "No I can't… You need to go and leave me alone. I've told you a thousand times I'm fine." She moves to close the door, I place my foot there preventing it from closing.

"No. Listen to me Paige. I don't believe that you are okay and you are going to have to keep telling me a thousand more times until I finally believe you. I refuse to leave until I am positive that you are okay. So you can either let me in or I'll let myself in." I threaten; unaware of what came over me.

I really cared about this woman and her actions the past week had by driving me insane. She seems unfazed by everything and once again moves to slam the door shut. I counter and hold the door open wide enough to brush my hand up against her face, her breath catches and her hold on the door weakens.

I push the door open and move in front of her whispering, "If you honestly feel nothing then I will leave and I will never come back." My lips meet hers, her lips are soft against mine as she kisses me back. Our kiss deepens as she pins me up against the wall, kicking the door shut, and locking it as she leads me to her bedroom. Our tongues explore each other's mouths, she pulls me closer to her, running her hand through my hair. She begins unbuttoning my shirt, I clutch her hand stopping her as I break away from her lips.

"Paige, we can't... Not now." I murmur, wanting more than anything to carry on. I feel her hand still in mine, and I guide her to the bed, we both take a seat catching our breaths, my arm is rests around her waist. Before I'm able to say anything she puts her finger up to my lips, I witness her eyes beginning to water. A single perfectly round tear falls before she begins talking.

"Walter I am so sorry. I just… I just couldn't handle it anymore, and I stupidly lashed out on the team. Are they okay? They don't hate me do they?" I respond telling her that they were concerned for her and sensed that something was wrong. She nods, continuing, "And you… Gosh I can still see the look in your eyes. It was the same look you gave me when I said I was leaving with Ralph to Portland. I want to tell you but I can't and it's killing me," her tears falling more rapidly.

"Paige, shhh its okay now." I embrace her, wiping away her tears, she rests her head against my chest, and I pass my fingers through her hair. "Please tell me what's going on in that head of yours. I hate being an outsider when I see you struggling. We're supposed to be a team Paige."

"I can't say anything."

My heart drops.

"Paige. Please." I plead, I feel my throat becoming tight as my eyes water.

She breaks down, her body shaking in my arms, "Okay," she weeps. I embrace her in my arms, she clings to me as if I were her safe haven. Considering the exhausted look in her expression I don't pressure her to continue, we had time to talk it out, all I cared about now was that she was safe here with me. We fall onto the bed, she lays in my arms, her head still resting on my chest. My arms enfold around her body, holding her tighter than I ever have before. I hear her breathing quiet and fall into a steady rhythm as she falls asleep. She's peacefully asleep for the first time in what could be weeks, when a loud banging jolts us awake.


	5. The Truth

The banging sound had been loud yet repetitive, rhythmic even. At first it seemed as if someone was trying to bust their way through the front door. But the picture frames on the walls weren't shaking, which they would be if someone were forcefully attempting to enter. In addition to that, Paige's bedroom was at the front of the house, so these frames should be shaking. I relax slightly and glance over at Paige, she's unhinged. After replaying the sound in my head I realize it could be something less violent as well.

"Oh God they're here! I knew this was a bad idea… Walter get out of here, get out as fast as you can," she cries hysterically.

"Who? Paige, who? Who is tormenting you?" I yell, officially sick of these games.

She throws herself off of the bed and runs to the window, peering out through a slit in the blinds. I hear her let out a loud sigh as she sinks to the floor, her head in her hands. I move past her toward the window, and peer through the same slit. My eyes adjust to the dull afternoon light, once focused they see a black tinted windowed SUV in the driveway; I look down to the license plate and recognize the numbers. The banging we heard wasn't what Paige expected; rather it was Cabe and the team exiting the vehicle outside, the car doors slamming one after another in a rhythmic and repetitive pattern. The doorbell sounds as Cabe hollers for us to let them in. I move away from the window, and yell out for them to wait a minute. Kneeling to Paige's level, I gently pull her hands away from her face.

"It's Cabe and the rest of the team. I'm going to let them in, just relax okay," I say. She nods her head, and slowly stands, composing herself. As I walk past her she grabs my hand holding me back, "Wait…" she says. Interrupting her I wave her hand away, and leave the room.

At this point I was tired of all of this, all I asked for was honesty and it seemed as if that was the only I was not allowed to receive, first with Cabe now with her. Enough was enough. I head toward the door and open it, once the team floods in I walk out, desperately needing some fresh air to clear my head. Happy notices and follows. I pace up and down the driveway thinking over everything that had happened with Paige in the last couple of weeks, maybe this woman was more than I could handle…

"Walt, what's going on?" she asks.

"Happy, I just need to be alone right now."

"You know what I've come to realize, whenever I say that I want to alone, in reality I want nothing more than have somebody to talk to, to open up to." she pauses. "Look Walt, I know you and Paige are having a rough time, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, the team is here for you." She doesn't wait for a response, certain there wouldn't be one, and walks back to the house.

I realize I had stopped pacing at some point during her speech and sink to the ground in defeat. After about twenty of minutes of sitting in a thought driven daze I gather the strength to go inside. Once inside I see the team gathered around the kitchen table, all of them staring intently at the files scattered across the surface. Paige is at the head of the table with Cabe, except she isn't looking at a file per say, instead it is a photo of a person; she's shaking her head in disbelief tears welling in her eyes. Cabe is talking to her, his voice too low for me to hear, his body language suggests he is questioning her. But on what? From my distance I can't see who the person being depicted is.

"A new case?" I question.

They all go silent, and begin to slide the files together, hiding them from me. I snatch a file from the table before Toby is able to cover it, instantly regretting opening it. Immediately I close the file and fling it across the table, it lands directly in front of Cabe.

"What is this?" I spit, trying to get the image of a young woman lying on an icy slab in a morgue out of my head; a young woman that could have easily been mistaken for Paige. Sly hands me a couple more files, each one has an image of another body, and the only difference is the person it resembles. I rapidly flip through all of the all of the images, one for Paige, one for Happy, one for Toby, one for Sylvester, one for Cabe, one for… there is only five…

"Why not me…" I say my voice barely audible. I hadn't noticed Paige until she places her hand over mine; the tension in my body is alleviated by her touch. I can feel my hands beginning to shake, what is this criminal's play? Target everyone I care about, kill them in front of me? She laces her fingers around mine and Toby brings a chair around.

"Walter baby, have a seat, concentrate on us not on that. Look around, we are all here, we are all okay." Paige says, squeezing my hand. I follow her instructions and take a couple of deep breathes, my hands finally stop shaking and Happy brings me a glass of water, I down it.

"How long has this been going on?" I inquire.

"Almost two months. The first victim was this guy here." Cabe answers my question and points directly at the Cabe look alike. "Each killing has been spaced about a week apart, except the most recent one, the Paige look alike. That one is the exception in every way, the way the victim was killed and the time span between it and the murder before it is the most distinct."

"Most distinct? What else is there? And why am I only now hearing of this? Have you been working this case for the past two months without me?" By the time I get to the last question I am yelling.

"Walter calm down," Cabe warns. "Let me catch you up to speed on the case. Homeland caught the case after the second victim; the Happy look alike was identified and linked to an Asian gang in New York. The gang was already on Homeland's radar so they took over the case from the local police department. Once the fourth victim was identified and the pattern was established Homeland believed that we should take over the case, since our case closure rate indicated we were highly successful as a team. But then we self-destructed and they assigned the case to another team. It was only after this woman was killed last night that they gave us the case back," Cabe finishes.

Paige is now on the other side of the kitchen, looking out at the stars and with her back to me as she whispers. "I'm positive I've seen the murderers."

"There's no evidence that supports your theory," Cabe begins, only to be interrupted.

"These people weren't normal! They had to be up to something! For the past couple of days there has a guy with a woman following me around. I didn't confront them until this morning when I left my house; they were parked right outside my house. They refused to say anything so I was frustrated and got in my car and drove away. Then they followed me to the garage, that's what you guys heard…" Paige continues, now facing all of us. "The two were certainly a couple, and the man was enraged and erratic when he finally confronted me. He kept going on about how our team was costing innocent lives. But the woman, there was something off about her. She warned that something bad would happen to Walter. She knows things, things about our team, things that only we should know…"

I leave my seat and stand beside her, not touching her but close enough for her to feel my presence; she draws from my strength and continues. "She knows about cases we have worked, personal relationships within our team, she knows about Walter and I, and she just kept repeating that I need to stay away from Walter or terrible things would happen. I tried so hard to keep things as normal as possible but everywhere I went they were there, I became so paranoid, still am, and… and I feel responsible for all of this."

"Paige none of these murders are your fault, you were not the one with the knife. Someone is clearly trying to play mind games on us to get us off of our game," Toby says.

I place my arm around her shoulders; she leans close to me and wraps her arm around my back. "Don't be so hard on yourself," I whisper.

"But what if I had stayed away? Maybe that woman would still be alive. She had a family, and now a little girl is going to grow up without a mom!" She blows past everyone and storms out of the kitchen, angry with herself more than anyone else.

"She shouldn't blame herself," Sly says.

"It's not her fault that she feels responsible and even though we all know she isn't responsible, she'll still feel that way for a while. Its human nature," Toby explains.

"What else do we know about the murders?" I ask eager to solve this case and move on.

"Honestly not a lot. We know that the first victim was found in Philadelphia, the second in New York, the third in Detroit, the fourth in Portland, and the fifth was here in Los Angeles. The murders are also becoming increasingly more violent," Cabe responds.

"We also don't have any suspects," Toby adds quietly.

"Okay is there any evidence linking the cases together?"

"Nothing so far and it's getting late. Get some shut eye and tomorrow morning we will get to work, and hopefully come up with some connections between all of the murders. Let's back to the garage everybody," Cabe says.

Everybody agrees to meet back up in the morning, and they all leave. I lock up behind them and walk down the hallway. I enter the bedroom and find it empty; I turn around and peer into Ralph's bedroom. His light snores echo softly in the room, beside him sits Paige. The floorboards creak under my weight causing Paige to direct her gaze toward me. She places a soft kiss on Ralph's forehead, dims his nightlight and closes the door, meeting me in the hallway. Before I have the chance to say anything she embraces me and rests her head on my chest, I hug her back and gently rub her back.

"Walter, what are we going to do?" she murmurs into my chest.

"Right now nothing, Cabe insisted on putting a protective detail on us so we are safe," I ensure her.

"I'm not going to let them control my life any more than they already have," she insists now looking directly into my eyes.

"Good. Because I wasn't planning on going anywhere," I cup my hands around her face and gently kiss her. This one soft kiss feels the most genuine, well except for our first kiss in the hospital. With all the secrets gone, and truths told, I feel we can finally be completely honest and open with one another, a step in the right direction for us. Happy was right earlier, being alone doesn't help anybody. Before I can deepen the kiss Paige breaks it.

"Walter, I am so sorry…"

I stop her, "Babe I know, and I am sorry too. Let's just move on okay, let's start over and promise each other that no matter what happens we won't keep anything from each other."

"I promise," she states kissing me and leading me to the bedroom.


	6. Jeffers

After bringing Ralph to school, Paige and I headed to the garage. We were determined to figure out who this psychopath was, and determined to put an end to their ways. Cabe had left a copy of the case files on the kitchen counter and due to my lack of sleep I had examined each and every document. Solving murders was not my specialty however detecting patterns was. Immediately I noticed that each killing occurred on a Monday, and they happened once a week. Since there are five victims this has been going on for five weeks, and today was Wednesday, if the killer stayed on track then the final victim, my lookalike, will be killed in five days. Additionally, the killings became more aggressive and violet with each victim, possibly showing that the killer is attempting to gain attention. Well he had received my attention, and the attention of my entire team, and as a result this person will be detained and held responsible for their actions.

"Hey you, what's going on in that brilliant mind of yours?" Paige asked as she placed her hand over mine. I was leaning over the table and the files were laid out in front of me once again. By now I had memorized every line of every page, my mind was racing trying to figure out how to bring justice to these victims.

"I can't stop thinking about these people. Cabe will be here any minute, then we can finally start getting some stuff done," I replied.

"Okay I'm going to get the rest of the team down here."

The rest of the team gathered just as Cabe walked in the door. Quickly he updated them on what had transpired during the night. The two people who had been following Paige around turned themselves into the local police station late last night, however they refused to speak unless it was with the Scorpion team.

"Toby and Happy, you guys go down to the precinct and get something, anything from those people. Sly can you run down possible victims, look through RMV records and see how many individuals in the area resemble myself. Lastly Cabe and I will cross reference any individuals who have traveled to all of the cities affected within the same time frame. There can't be that many people traveling to Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Portland, as well as Los Angeles." I commanded.

"Kid that sounds like a great plan, however there's one minor bump in the road… the people won't talk to anyone from Scorpion unless Paige is present," Cabe stated.

"No way! That's not happening, those people have tormented her enough," I shouted rather loudly while pinching the bridge of my nose. I turned away from the table and looked over at Paige who had slowly made her way into the kitchen. She turned toward me and made eye contact, shaking her head.

"Walter… I'll be fine, Cabe can go with me," she said quietly. How could she possibly want to see these people never mind talk to them? They had already tormented her, had she already forgotten the fear they had instilled in her?

"Uh Paige can we talk… in private please?" I pleaded low enough for only her ears. She nodded her head and walked up the stairs.

"Sly cross reference those travelers, check TSA as well as any travelers coming in on a train, hopefully this person took some form of public transportation because tracking down a driver may be impossible. Toby run down those lookalikes," I stated as I followed Paige upstairs. Once upstairs I shut my bedroom door and sat beside Paige on the bed. Before I was able to say anything she began.

"Look, Walter I need to do this," she paused, "I need to do it for those families that have lost someone because of us. These people know something! And we need to find out what it is, so that's exactly what I am going to help us do. I can't sit back Walter! I haven't forgotten what they did, and I probably won't forget any time soon…" I wrapped my arm around her and gently rubbed her back, comforting her as she continued. "She said something terrible would happen to you… and I can't let that happen…" she trailed off, her beautiful eyes shimmered as tears threatened to escape. I pulled her close and delicately laid a kiss upon her forehead.

"Okay…" I agreed, even though every fiber in my being wanted desperately to keep her safe and as far away from those lunatics as possible. "Babe, I promise you I will be as careful as possible, because I don't want to lose you as much as you don't want to lose me, okay?" I express softly, she was the only person who I was able to express my full emotions too and she meant the world to me, so I meant everything that I said.

"Okay. Now let's solve this case," she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes and headed back downstairs. I lingered by the bedroom window for a second before following and thought, how was it possible to feel this much emotion toward a single person?

Toby had found a few lookalikes in the Los Angeles area, however I was concerned the killer may strike outside of the area and had him expand the search to include the neighboring counties as well. Sly was having trouble finding any one individual who had traveled by plane to each of the cities and Happy took over the search by train and was coming up empty as well. This suspect was elusive and it was intimidating, the killer is clearly deranged yet there was no sign of this person. Cabe went over all of the people who we have busted as a team, however they were all still in prison, so there was no lead from that either. Slowly this case was driving me insane, and now to make matters even better, Paige was beginning her interview with the crazies. Sly had set up a microphone wire to allow us to hear what was going on at the precinct back at the garage, in case Paige and Cabe missed any possible clues.

"Tell us what you know about all of the killings and maybe we can work out a deal," Cabe commanded to the crazy couple. They weren't under arrest however they weren't entirely free. After they came into the precinct and demanded to speak to the Scorpion team the LAPD ran a background check on them. It turns out there were a few warrants for their arrests in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, however these two states didn't correspond with the states in which the murders occurred. The two looked over at each other before the man, Ryan Michaels, decided to speak.

"We know a few things about the murders, but first things first we want it on record that we did not commit the murders," Michaels stated.

"Nobody said you committed the murders, just tell us what you know," Paige asked, showing authority as well as sympathy in the way that her words flowed.

"There's a man, that we work for, who is the head of a massive underground network of hackers, who is losing a lot of money due to the Scorpion team. The group specializes in government hacks, and they profit by selling government files to the biggest buyers. Anyway since the creation of Scorpion, the number of hackers willing to hack into government networks has severely decreased, because the likelihood that they will be caught has increased dramatically, due to the skills of Walter O'Brien," Michaels continued.

"Okay, why Walter O'Brien, there are other members of the Scorpion team," Cabe questioned.

"Jeffers believes that O'Brien is the leader of the team, which therefore makes him solely responsible for all of Scorpion's actions. And since all of the money he is losing is due to Scorpion he has created a personal vendetta against Walter O'Brien," Julia Michaels, Ryan Michaels wife, says. Ryan Michaels cringed when his wife began by stating Jeffers name.

"You said Jeffers, does this man have a first name?" Paige inquires. Back at the garage I smile, she picked up on the subtle slip up made by Julia Michaels. It didn't look like Ryan Michaels was in the mood to give up his boss's name, however Julia slipped.

"Nathaniel Jeffers," they said in unison. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt my heartbeat quicken, Nathaniel Jeffers was dead. There's no way he was alive; I was there when he died. Which meant…

Not wanting to alarm the rest of the team I grabbed my phone and dialed Cabe's number as I walked outside, he picked up on the second ring.

"What's up kid did we miss some…" he answered but I interrupted him.

"Cabe! The last victim isn't going to be a lookalike; the last victim will be me!" As I finished my sentence a white van screeched to a halt right in front of me, two men dressed in full black with ski masks on came surging out of the van and grabbed me, shoving me into the van. Once I was inside the last thing I remembered before blackness was a towel being placed on my face.


	7. Conclusion

We sat on the porch as the fiery red ball dipped towards the horizon. The misty clouds flashed bright red and orange on what appeared to be the edge of the world. The Pacific Ocean turned into a pattern of golden streaks and the nearby boat was mirrored perfectly in the calm waters. All was quiet besides the tinkle of the ice in my drink when I stirred it. Beside me there was the sound of a shuffle, warm lips kissed behind my ear then they slowly made their way toward my lips. Paige had made this sunset absolutely stunning, never had I experienced more warmth in my life, between my newly sun kissed tan skin and the sense of tranquility I felt as Paige laced her fingers in mine…

I awakened to the thundering sound of a metal door slamming, under me I felt the icy coldness of a metallic chair. Looking around I couldn't see much of anything, the room I was in was dark and frigid. In an attempt to wipe my eyes for clarity, I noticed my hands were tied to the back of the chair. Fear began to work its way through my body, my nerves were on edge and my senses were heightened. The quietest clatter portrayed itself as a booming blast in my ears. How in the hell had I ended up here? My mind raced as I attempted to put the pieces back together, just now I had woken to a dream of Paige… Was she here as well? No. She had gone to the precinct with Cabe… Cabe! He was the last person I had spoken to, I had urgently called him, but why? Jeffers… Nathaniel Jeffers.

Nathaniel Jeffers and I were in the same government program in 2002, when I was sixteen years old. He was absolutely brilliant, and I envied the way he was able to command others due to his high EQ in addition to his high IQ. Everyone in the program had their own government handler, in my case I had Cabe, and Nathaniel had a man named Adam Richards. For those of us whose parents did not understand and could not relate to us, the government had a college type campus for us to live. In the mornings and afternoons we had classes, unless our handlers needed us. Nathaniel was very social and enjoyed the company of others, in this aspect he was the complete opposite of me. However, when it came to the world of academia, especially science and computers, Nathaniel was on the same page as me. Together we were unstoppable when it came to coding, and often Cabe and I worked alongside Richards and Nathaniel. The major difference between Nathaniel and I was our age, since I was only sixteen I wasn't supposed to go out in the field with Cabe like I do now. But Nathaniel was three years older than me so he and Richards often went on field assignments. My thoughts flashed back to the last time I had seen Nathaniel Jeffers.

On August 4th, 2000, Nathaniel had a field assignment that was supposed to be routine and asked if I could go along and help him. Cabe was dealing with a personal matter and had left campus two days before, so my temporary handler, Steven White, agreed to help out Richards and boost my field experience. All we were supposed to do was check the local power plant to make sure all the machines were operating properly and that it had a top-notch security system installed. If Cabe had still been on campus there was no way I would have ended up at that power plant, but he wasn't there, which left me excited to be out in the field. 

The events at the power plant were mundane, we checked and upgraded all the systems with ease. Nathaniel taught the employees the basics of the security system and what to do in the case of an attack. Within two hours we finished our work and went to the center of town where the power plant offices were located. Nathaniel and I stayed in the car with my handler while Richards went into the building to file some paperwork. Not even a minute after Richards walked into the offices a gunman opened fire at the bank across the street. Richards immediately sprinted across the street to see if he could help. Before I fully realized what was going on Nathaniel jumped out of the car and ran after him. My handler shifted the car to drive and parked father up the road out of harms away as first responders arrived at the bank. Once the police had control of the situation we walked back toward the bank. Propped up against the side of a truck was Richards, his upper arm was being wrapped by a medic, a bullet had grazed him, thankfully causing no serious injury. I surveyed the scene and saw a lot of people badly injured, the medics were slowly making their way to each victim triaging as they waited for backup to arrive. I moved away from the handlers and toward the bank, right by the door I found Nathaniel, he was unconscious and badly bleeding from his side. Panic ensued and I screamed for help, simultaneously putting pressure on his wound. Nathaniel stirred under my touch, all I remember was pleading with him to stay with me, but he kept going back under. When the medics finally got to him it felt like hours had past, and I knew it was too late for him. They put him on a stretcher and all I heard was them yelling that he had no pulse, one medic even said they had lost him. That was the last time I saw Nathaniel… 

Abruptly the metal door swung open, shedding light into the dark and cramped room. A man walked in, switching on a light, which blinded me with its brightness.

"Walter O'Brien," the man stated, his back was toward me. I hadn't heard that voice in fifteen years, but I knew it was Nathaniel Jeffers.

"Nathaniel…" I replied.

"Save it O'Brien, I want you to disband the Scorpion team." Jeffers commanded as he turned to face me. The young and caring look that once dominated his eyes was now absent and replaced with the glare of a killer.

"That's not going to happen Nathaniel, you need to stop whatever scheme you're running."

"Scheme? I'm not running any type of scheme. I'm operating a business in which young geniuses, like us, can profit off of their skills; rather than be kept hidden, stored away from society... Because that's what they did to us Walter! They hid us from society, they didn't think we could strive in it! In reality they were afraid we would take over from right under their noses and control society. I'm doing the right thing Walter! I'm exposing everything that they have kept hidden from society, from the people they claim to protect. Civilians have no idea what their government has been up to. Over the past few years my campaign has grown, and we were growing exponentially, with more and more government scandals being exposed each and every day, but that was before Scorpion…"

"What and now you're losing your money? Is that what your problem is? You can't sell government secrets that could potentially harm the safety of the American public? Wow that sounds so terrible," I spit, beyond pissed. Nathaniel used to adore working with Richards, he always felt like he was doing the right thing. How did he go rouge? Baghdad… maybe he worked on something similar that cost people their lives…

Nathaniel was visibly pissed off by my words.

"You don't get it!" he yelled inches away from my face. "How could you go back to working with them? With Cabe? Do you not understand what he did? He made you kill people! Do you know how many others they have made do their dirty work for them? Do you understand the spectrum of government control? They control everything! Even our day to day lives, and I'm dedicated to ending that. And Scorpion is the only thing standing in my way. So either you will end it, or I will."

The seriousness in his tone dominated his speech, his eyes showed nothing but darkness. Negotiations would not work with this man; he was beyond any point of reason. He believed himself to be some type of martyr for humanity.

"Okay… But I'll need to talk to Cabe," I said. If I could get through to Cabe, he would know how to handle Nathaniel. I wasn't trying to negotiate with him, I just hoped he would believe that in order for me to disband Scorpion I would need Cabe. Nathaniel pondered over that thought before walking back through the metal door and slamming it shut.

"NATHANIEL!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, fearing he realized he would have to disband Scorpion all by himself. That thought sent chills down my spine, as it stood the man had orchestrated the brutal killings of multiple innocent people, I couldn't even imagine what he would do to my team, my family. "NATHANIEL!" I continued to scream, desperately trying to free myself from the ropes that were digging deep into my wrists. I twisted vigorously in my seat attempting to turn the chair over, the second my chair plummeted to the ground, my skull slammed into the hard concrete and blackness took over, simultaneously the compound erupted into gunfire…

 

After what felt like hours I awoke, white florescent lights blinded me. Once my eyes adjusted I was greeted by the all too familiar sight of a bleak and too clean hospital room.

"Hey there…" Paige's voice came from right beside me. I met her eyes and felt my heart tighten, I had put this woman through so much already and we haven't even known each other for a year, and we had only been dating for a few weeks. But yet here she was once again at my side.

"Hey beautiful... is everyone okay?"

"Yeah everyone is fine, we were mostly worried about you. The doctors say you have a minor concussion; and it should heal on its own as long as you don't hurt yourself again…" she trailed, the emotion clearly present in her voice.

The door to my room opened as the rest of the team filed in, Cabe was the last to enter and had a grim look plastered on his face. Paige watched as I looked over at Cabe and then as Cabe looked back at me.

"Hey guys why don't we let Cabe and Walter have some alone time," Paige suggested, and thankfully they all agreed.

"Walter, I'm sorry… but we weren't able to save Nathaniel… once we breached the compound we were met with gunfire. When we got to you Nathaniel had you in a headlock with a gun pointed at your head… I'm sorry kid I know he meant a lot to you," Cabe said quietly. I couldn't process all of these emotions at one time, all of the disappointment, guilt, and sadness. I whispered "thanks," and turned away from him, away from the door and curled my knees up to my chest, I pulled the hospital blanket up toward my head. I wished everyone would just leave me alone, my head was racing with all of these emotions and I just couldn't relate. The door to room opened, I assumed Cabe was leaving and finally I would be alone, until I felt someone get into the bed behind me, I felt the all too familiar and loving hands of Paige on my shoulder holding me tight.

"It's okay Walter, let it all out…" As she finished her sentence, warm tears fell slowly down my face. Then my shoulders began to shake and I no longer had control of my body anymore, tears ran freely and rapidly down my face. I wept, the hot torrents of salty water streamed, as if a dam had broken, my tears mingled with the uncomfortable paper-thin hospital sheets, depressing me even more. I could not remember the last time I had cried, the emotions I sensed right now were a whirling tornado of every possible emotion I had encountered in my life. I sobbed for my inability to express emotions, I sobbed for Nathaniel Jeffers, I sobbed for the childhood I never had, I sobbed for the innocent people whose only crime was looking like members of my team, and most importantly I sobbed for every time I wanted to sob but physically and emotionally could not.

 

By the end of the day I was released from the hospital. At the garage Cabe wrapped up the casework and headed home. All in all, the victims in each city were killer by individually hired guns, Nathaniel wanted it to seem as if the killings were committed by one person, that way he could buy himself enough time to kidnap me without us catching on to him first. Had the Michaels couple not stepped up we probably wouldn't have figured out it was Nathaniel until it was too late. The raid on Nathaniel's compound retrieved several classified government documents, some were only hours away from being sold to enemies of the United States of America.

Later that night, I found myself up on the roof, staring at all the lights within the city. Each light represented another one of my thoughts. A soft breeze drifted through the warm LA air calming my tense nerves. Suddenly I felt a small hand in mine, I looked down and smiled, Ralph right beside me and he was up on his tip-toes looking over the small wall around the roof. I picked him up and up him up on my shoulders, giving him a better view of the beautiful city.

"Did you know how many people call this city home?" I asked Ralph.

"Over 3.9 million, and the first space shuttle was invented here, maybe the first civilian rocket…" his response made me laugh.

"Maybe? How about we make that come true?" I say as I put him down. He runs downstairs toward the rocket, nonverbally agreeing to help me with the rocket. When I get down to the rocket I pause before entering the room, inside I hear Paige's laughter and Ralph's sweet and innocent voice. I walk in and lean up against the door frame, in the room I find Ralph attempting to explain the difference between two parts, Paige was obviously attempting to learn the mechanics but failing to comprehend, Ralph began to laugh as he realized how pointless it was to tell her. At that point leaning up against the door frame a grin is plastered across my face as I look at my beautiful girlfriend and her amazing son, this is what paradise really felt like.


End file.
